County Streamlines Hiring Of Backup Defense Lawyers

Deciding On One Firm Instead Of Several Will Save Money For The Government.

November 15, 1998|By Frank Stanfield and David Damron of The Sentinel Staff

TAVARES - Lake County is aiming to cut costs by overhauling the way it defends impoverished defendants that the Public Defender's Office can't handle.

In the past, Lake's chief circuit judge has picked lawyers from a short list of criminal attorneys who handled the work for a set fee. But now, County Attorney Sandy Minkoff wants to hire one law firm instead.

Minkoff sent a memo to county commissioners Friday urging them to pick the law firm of Graves and Spivey to handle the spillover cases for roughly $100,000 annually over the next two years.

For county officials, the change means saving time and money. For the lawyers who end up with the contract, it means a nice chunk of business at a time when there are more lawyers than clients.

Minkoff said his staff wastes too much time sorting through stacks of bills from a host of different lawyers. Previously, the county contracted with four attorneys on a case-by-case basis.

Time spent tracking the lawyers' expenses kept his staff from working on other pressing issues, Minkoff said.

Eight legal teams submitted bids, ranging from $97,777 to $165,700.

In 1996, the county paid out $153,874 to lawyers who handle cases to avoid a confict of interest with the Public Defender's Office. Such scenarios occur when there are co-defendents, who frequently end up testifying against each other. Next year's costs, under terms of the agreement with the newly forming Graves and Spivey firm, promise to be at least 35 percent lower.

``It looks like we're going to save a significant amount of money,'' Minkoff said. ``It's a great win-win situation for the county.''

John Spivey is an assistant public defender. Michael Graves is a veteran criminal defense attorney with an office in Tavares.

Graves and Spivey delivered the second lowest bid, at $98,500, beating out the firm of Colando & Golub, which submitted a bid $723 cheaper.

But Minkoff said Graves and Spivey were more qualified. Graves was once the chief assistant public defender and Spivey is a board certified criminal attorney.

Commissioners are scheduled to make their pick Dec. 1.

The contract will cover all conflict-of-interest cases except capital murder or rape cases where a defendant could face the death penalty. Capital cases end up being the most costly and time consuming.

Lake's overhaul is no solo venture. Counties across the state are putting conflict contracts out for bid.

``They hope to save $30 million statewide,'' said Public Defender Howard ``Skip'' Babb Jr., whose five-county district includes Lake.

The bids for a conflict lawyer sparked a lot of interest, both in the State Attorney's and in the Public Defenders offices.

Assistant Public Defenders Andy Colando and Candace Hawthorne work for the firm which had the lowest bid - $97,778. Colando formerly had a practice in South Florida. He has been in Lake County since March. Hawthorne has been an assistant public defender for nearly 10 years.

``I'm going to be losing three of my most experienced lawyers,'' Babb said in the days before Minkoff's recommendation became publicly known.

Spivey's move was not dependent upon Graves landing the two-year contract.

``John is coming in with me if we get the contract or not,'' Graves said.

Since he is coming on board, Graves said he figured his firm could handle the additional work, and he liked his chances from the beginning.

``I've already got an established practice. I won't have to set up an office,'' he said.

One reason Lake and other counties can attract so much widespread interest in a contract is that there are too many lawyers looking for too few jobs.

The entry-level salary for assistant public defender in Lake County is $25,000. Salaries are higher in big cities like Miami, but the salaries are still low compared to work in private practice. The median salary for recent graduates in Central Florida is $35,000, according to the Florida Bar.

``I've got lawyers with $100,000 student loans who tell me they can't afford to work for me any more,'' Babb said.

Babb and other public defenders are trying to get the Legislature to adopt a loan-forgiveness program for lawyers who work for the state.

``They like the idea until they see the bottom line,'' Babb said of the lawmakers.

Rada said he submitted a bid ``purely for economic reasons.'' The prosecutor said he likes what he is doing but it looked like a way to start a practice with a ready-made client base.

``It's difficult to start a practice by yourself,'' he said. ``In fact, a lot have failed.''

Fred Morrison, a native of Lake County who has been practicing law since 1979, said a newcomer wouldn't be able to get any training from an experienced partner, a problem that leads to questions about their qualifications, noted Mike J. Garcia, a senior research analyst with The Florida Bar.